December 20: Maracatu

1. Late Night: In a quiet corner of Dundas Street West, a midnight Brazilian drumming party. Toronto's own Maracatu Nunca Antes was performing at the one and only Lula Lounge.

2. Later That Night: Met two guys at the streetcar stop, so we shared a cab to the subway. Torontonians need to do this more often: it saves money and it's social.

3. Really Late Night: Didn't need to hop in another taxi, as I saw a bus going my way. Riding Toronto buses by night puts me in touch with the city.

December 14: Lightning

First, this guy sold me his $15 ticket for $10 at the door.
Then, local band Flash Lightning rocked an incredible gig.
Then, White Cowbell Oklahoma on stage at Lee's Palace.

December 2: Mustard

1. Trekking through freshly fallen snow with the boys early on Sunday morning in a city hugged by the white blanket of winter.

2. Journeying through carol-filled hotel foyers and salons packed with young children wired on chocolate milk and sugary sweets.

3. Laughing through lunch as Lukas repeatedly offers me a green-coloured shortbread cookie wreath, dipped in bright yellow mustard.

November 11: Tocar

‘Tocar’ is my favourite Spanish word. It means both ‘to touch’ and ‘to play’ (as in, an instrument). It's beautiful.

1. Small moments: Connecting with a colleague - and a free lift.
2. Happy moments: Connecting with my bro - and free movies.
3. Misty moments: An invisible connection with my friend Owl, who designed a very special xylophone bench. It sits on the Northeast corner of Liberty St. and Fraser Ave. in Liberty Village in Toronto. At 1am, it said, ‘tocarme’... so I did.

October 31: Hysteria

1. Arthur: tried Arthur's new Acai rainforest berry smoothie.

2. Evalyn: watched a lineup of incredible performers at Hysteria, including Evalyn Parry.

3. Julija: met the beautiful, motherly Eastern European vendor at Church and Wellesley. Halloween in the streets: enjoyed sausages in boxes.

October 30: Minutes

Minutes well-spent:

1. Josh Rachlis's Terry Cloth (11 minutes)
2. Anita Renfroe's William Tell Overture for moms (3 minutes of Momsense)
3. Josh Rachlis's Marriage Proposal (3 minutes)

October 24: Tori!

1. The voice of darkness: gory guest list beckons.
2. The voice of improvisation: performance art calls.
3. The voice of an angel: Tori Amos touches down.

October 23: Tori

1. Online: Surprise! Tori, tomorrow night.
2. Offline: Korean green tea birthday cake.
3. In line: Encouraging coursework grades.

October 8: ‘Sole mio’

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia

A. The clock tower in the Public Gardens is chiming midnight 15 minutes early. It is beautiful, yet perplexing.

1. Feeling it as I am welcomed into several extended Korean-Portuguese families.

B. Email from old friends, wireless internet connections, chlorinated pools, hair straighteners, control top nylons, Titanic marine museums.

2. Feeling it as everyone helps me get to where I need to go in a hurry.

C. The privilege of hearing ‘Sole mio’ sung in Italian - with extraordinary feeling - from a husband to a wife (‘you are my sunshine’).

3. Feeling it as the Portuguese Adam Sandler (à la Wedding Singer) plays a Christmas carol over dinner.

September 22: Norwegians

I should have reflected on the good things in September instead of being sad today. It was the hardest thing in the world for me to leave the house. So the first twelve hours were awful. Then, flip it! The next twelve hours were much better.

1. Musicians: Sunset backdrop for live music in a city park.
2. Hosts: Unlimited free drinks and food at a hostel party.
3. Dancefloor: As self-appointed Official Government Party Closers, my ‘colleagues’ and I ensured that the living room dancefloor stayed rocking to a respectable 7am. We inspected the site for frauds and terrorists, and are happy to file in our reports that hostel parties should receive government funding and that Norwegians deserve tax breaks for dancing with us in Canada. We did not get paid overtime, did not take any union breaks and dutifully submitted our paperwork early.

Please support Save Our Rinks.

August 23: Kick Your Aaa

1. A certain lifeguard at a certain hotel pool agreed to hook me up.
2. A certain Madrileña talked me through some romance issues.
3. A certain little nephew did some dancing for me (‘dance #4,’ ‘dance #79’) and, much to our shock and concern, reproduced a little hip-hop lyrical: ‘I'm gonna kick your aaa!’ He was clueless; it was hilarious. (This forever solves the to-play-or-not-to-play issue as far as I'm concerned.) We convinced the confused little guy to sing, ‘I'm gonna kiss your hand!’

P-Units, III: Happy Feet

Some of you know I've been staying with my parents. We're looking at 3-4 months, with possibility for early release. I wanted to get to know them as people - and now I am!

1. My dad sunbathes in a straw cowboy-like hat.
2. He also listens to Eminem when my mom isn't home.
3. My mom tap dances to Il Divo at 6:30 every morning.

August 22: Larry

Today was a miscellany of goodies. Here are just three:

1. Hand extended outside restaurant, ‘Hi, are you Walter? I'm Julia.’ ‘Hi Julia, nice to meet you, I'm Larry.’ It was hilarious.

2. Walking down Bay Street during the afternoon rush. Crawling bumper to bumper, two army boys in a Hummer, pulling up to a pretty young woman every 30 seconds, cranking up the music and belting out at the top of their lungs, ‘What is love? Baby don't hurt me no more...’

3. Reading Two Chicago Stories. If you can, take five minutes to read them. They are AMAZING. Thank you, Gretta!

August 10: Ringtone

1. Diagnostic: My wireless router works just fine.
2. Skanky-pants: Snip, snip jeans into even better shorts.
3. Download: Rhythmicru now has a ringtone on Telus (check your provider). It's called ‘Turn it Up’ (not to be confused with Paris Hilton's). We downloaded it to my phone, to everyone's approval.

July 21: Benassi

1. On my way into the subway, fumbling for change since I had forgotten my pass at home, a tourist emerged and randomly offered me his day pass.

2. On my way to a club, the driver said, ‘You're too old to go to the Guvernment.’ After I let him have it, he explained, ‘You're not dressed like a teenager.’ I later realized it was for my own good. (Next time, I will dress like a teenager.)

3. On my way back to my younger days, I was infected by the one and only Benny Benassi, beautiful inside and out.

July 13: Mannequin

HAMILTON, Ontario

I'd like to dedicate this post to another Julia, who lent me her eyes. Thanks, Jules!

1. James Street North Art Crawl. We meandered into galleries and studios, experiencing this type of vibe, meeting local artists like Melanie and discovering hidden spaces and treasures such as this beauty.

2. Fisherman's pier pub. Even though we decided not to stay, the waitress brought out Sour Apple shots, on the house.

3. My dream of ending a late night with live music in a Hamilton honky-tonk bar came true. Only my cowboy boots were missing.

There is no doubt about it. People in Hamilton are very nice.

The next art crawl is August 10, for all you Torontonians looking for something different.

Bonus: Canada Day

I've been celebrating this long weekend. July 1st was Canada's 140th birthday. Not too shabby.

I was in a bit of a funk - post-party syndrome - but Izzy gave me Def Leppard's Greatest Hits and I was ready to blog again.

Pour some ssssugar on me!

June 30: Blue Moon

1. Learning: Portuguese people brought the ukelele to Hawai'i.
2. Reading: a thick, heavy memoir at the bookstore for only $2.
3. Blue Moon Beer: post-gig, a home brew ale on a back patio.

I'm told it was the second full moon this month. I'll toast to that!

June 29: Brazilian

Everything really good today happened late at night:

1. Chilling with my brother, listening to friends play in a club, eating what may possibly have been the world's greatest onion rings.
2. Checking out a lively Brazilian party at Toronto's Gladstone Hotel.
3. Arriving with Tim at a west-end Brazilian after-hours house party to the words, ‘Welcome Home!’

God Bless the Beautiful Brazilians!

June 16: Wonderful

1. My nephew, my brother and I reworked the lyrics to ‘Itsy Bitsy Spider’ in all kinds of strange and wonderful ways.

2. I learned about the strange and wonderful ways of squids and that even though they may look angry, they are sad - and beautiful.

3. A neighbour at the grocery store directed me to some strange and wonderful frozen soy desserts (in lieu of ice cream).